Friday, March 27, 2009

Hitch-hiking south through the lake district, Argentina

From Buenos Aires I caught a 20 hour bus heading southwest across the country to the Andes, almost to the border with Chile. I made it to a small mountain town called San Martin de los Andes, which is at the northern end of the Lake District in Argentina. I spent a couple of nights in the town in a creaky house that had been converted into a hostel. Breakfast was included as it is with most lodging, and I had to laugh when I woke up the first day when breakfast was served; a meager couple of pieces of toasted bread, butter, and a cup of coffee.















From San Martin de los Andes I hitch-hiked the "road of the seven lakes" heading south towards Villa la Angostura and the larger city of Bariloche. I spent the first night of my trip at Lago Hermosa (Lake Gorgeous). I caught a few rides that took me straight to the lake and it was so beautiful that I decided to stay there for the rest of the afternoon and camp along side of the lake. I hiked around part of the lake and found a nice spot to hang out and read, then I set up my tent. It was illegal to camp there and a ranger on horse back rode by and told me around sunset. He let me stay there for the night anyway, provided I didn't make a fire. I knew it was illegal to stay there but I figured it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission and it worked out.

I had a peaceful night along side of the lake until the next morning when a herd of deer or elk came charging almost through my tent. There was a lot of mooing so I actually thought they were cows being herded into my tent by some local trying to make a point. I decided not to get out of my tent and soon they made their way down the lake and it was peaceful again. Later that day local told me they were actually somekind of deer or elk. The morning on the lake was beautifully still. It was crystal clear through most of the night and the stars were amazing, then sometime through the night the lake became completely fogged in. It was a gorgeous sight seeing the fog lift from the lake from the open door of my tent. Another beautiful day!










From Lago Hermoso I caught a ride back to the road of the seven lakes and further south to a lookout point. From there I had trouble getting a ride but eventually a great couple picked me up, Augustine and Elene. They were taking a long weekend, camping at different lakes along the way. We had a great time visiting different lakes and finally ending up at the last of the seven lakes in another beautiful town called Villa de la Angostura. We camped there and had nice night around the fire sharing a meal and some wine. One of the highlights was Angustine showing me how to take out a winecork that has been completely shoved into an empty bottle of wine. What a great trick!













The next day we toured around a bit more and then they made their way back home while I saw more of picturesque Villa de la Angostura. Later that afternoon I jumped on a bus to make it the rest of the way to Barilochi for the evening.
















Wooden Coca Cola sign

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Bears around the world

I spent a long time in Buenos Aires and there was a lot to see and do apart from avoiding thieves. One of the public art exhibits was particularly interesting; it was a set of bear sculptures representing most of the countries around the world. Each bear was painted and textured differently to represent it's unique country. The exhibit tours around the world with the idea of promoting world peace. As an artistic gap filler here is a selection images from the exhibit. The next post will be back on the road again, making my way down to Patagonia.